Gaming All of my 8 gigs of ram isn't registering...

[Tsuteto]

I recently installed two 4 gig sticks of ram in my HP G42-415DX. The full 8 gigs shows as installed, but only 3.74 gigs is showing as usable. I have verified that I have a Windows 7 64-bit system (Home Premium to be exact), and I have recently updated drivers (at least I'm sure I've updated all the drivers, but it is possible for one or two utility type drivers not being installed) to try to solve the problem, to no avail.​

If there's anything more I can provide, let me know.​

EDIT: And while I'm thinking of it, they are 8500's.​

 

[Nathan Drake]

Enabling the memory remap feature in the bios settings seems to have fixed the problem for one or two people according to some googling.

 

[Jamstruth]

Are you sure your motherboard supports having 8GB of RAM? I've never put a motherboard over capacity before but I know that there's always a maximum capacity per slot. For instance if you have 2 4GB sticks in your PC and each slot has a max of 2GB this might be causing it.
Edit: Never mind, I just google the serial number. If I have it right your max memory is 8GB.

 

[C-Kronos]

In some cases depending on the motherboard, it can be a PSU issue.

 

[Tsuteto]

Enabling the memory remap feature in the bios settings seems to have fixed the problem for one or two people according to some googling.

There's no remap feature I'm locating in the BIOS, unfortunately.

Are you sure your motherboard supports having 8GB of RAM? I've never put a motherboard over capacity before but I know that there's always a maximum capacity per slot. For instance if you have 2 4GB sticks in your PC and each slot has a max of 2GB this might be causing it.
Edit: Never mind, I just google the serial number. If I have it right your max memory is 8GB.

Yep, you got it right. I was informed 8500 would be the best for it, and it reads it correctly, just says "3.74" is usable :/

In some cases depending on the motherboard, it can be a PSU issue.

PSU? Power Supply Unit? Not thinking so, if I'm inferring the term correctly. The laptop is still under a year old, and there's been absolutely no problems with it. Just not using the fully installed ram.

 

[Zetta_x]

If windows is only showing as 3.7something gigabytes - it's because you are using a 32 bit OS. How exactly did you verify you were using a 64 bit OS?

 

[Damian666]

then its broken man, cant be anything else, i had it recently too, switched with different memory module, bam, fixed.

 

[Tsuteto]

then its broken man, cant be anything else, i had it recently too, switched with different memory module, bam, fixed.

Its broken as in the RAM itself? I hope not, I'll be pretty miffed if so.

If windows is only showing as 3.7something gigabytes - it's because you are using a 32 bit OS. How exactly did you verify you were using a 64 bit OS?

Computer -> Properties -> Text that says "System Type: 64-bit Operating System"

 

[AceWarhead]

Wait, 32-bit OS's can only use up to 4GB of RAM?

 

[Tsuteto]

Right, which is why I'm baffled on mine, since it's 64-bit, and is only using 3.74 gig, like what a 32-bit system would normally. And everywhere I've turned is a dead-end thus far -.-

 

[Arsic]

Does your BIOS detect all 8GB? If your BIOS detects it then it's an issue with the OS. Though, refer to your motherboard's manual anyways. Just in case though: (1) Motherboards usually have color coded channels and you should be matching them and (2) they should be of the same memory type/speed..

 

[kirlac]

I would say bad RAM. Try booting with one stick at a time and if at any stage it doesn't boot then that stick is bad. I got some bad RAM once, but took it back and they replaced it for me. Also do you have onboard graphics or a dedicated card? Onboard graphics use your system RAM as memory for the GPU so it could be set in the BIOS to dedicate so much to the graphics. I'm not sure if that causes it to not be visible to the OS though, it's been a long time since I've used a computer with onboard graphics.

EDIT:

they should be of the same memory type/speed..

If they aren't the motherboard should usually just lower the speed of it all so it matches if I'm not mistaken. That's what mine did.

 

[Jamstruth]

Wait, 32-bit OS's can only use up to 4GB of RAM?

Yep. Memory addressing issue. In a 32-bit OS all the registers in the CPU are 32-bit. The max number of addresses that can be described in 32 bits is 4GB.

On Topic:
Try switching out one of the RAM modules with your original RAM card and see what happens. You'll see if the RAM's faulty and which one it is then. If you still only see 4GB or just the amount in the RAM card you replaced with then its a faulty RAM slot.
It won't be the onboard graphics stealing the RAM. The computer would still see the RAM it would just consider it in use.

 

[Foxi4]

1. Pull out one of the modules and test whether it registers, run Memtest on it.
2. Pull that one out, swap it with the other module, run Memtest on it if it works.

After those two steps you will know whether the modules are working or not. If they're both in working order then perhaps the other slot on your motherboard is dirty, broken or malfunctioning, but that's something to worry about later. First thing's first - determine if both modules are working fine.

 

[kirlac]

It won't be the onboard graphics stealing the RAM. The computer would still see the RAM it would just consider it in use.

That's useful to know. I wasn't sure. All I remember about onboard graphics is that there was a setting in the BIOS for how much RAM it can use.
I still vote faulty RAM (or RAM slots). If after testing that and all modules and slots are fine but you are still lacking memory, check you have enough power to run it. If your power supply is too low and it's all being used, there may not be enough to power the RAM. If it's a prebuilt, they often only put in a PSU big enough to power what comes in the computer as they don't expect you to add more components. But if the BIOS sees it, it's probably getting enough power but it can't hurt to check. Then again if the BIOS sees it, then the RAM modules/slots would be fine as well. Any chance of a screenshot showing how much is usable/installed?

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

are you sharing the ram with ypur video card? (if its old)

 

[Tsuteto]

In regards to ram sharing with video card: I have no idea. I'm tech savvy enough for some of the lighter advanced stuff, but when it comes to specifics, I'm not entirely sure. Again, the model is an HP G42-415DX, the laptop was bought at a BestBuy store.

In regards to bad ram: I'll try the one stick at a time thing and other suggestions in regards to that, but I really doubt it, since in the System Information, it states "8.00 GB installed (3.74 usable)" or very close to that effect. As for the BIOS, it does state "Total Memory: 8192 MB".

 

[Rydian]

While mobile cards leeching RAM is rather common, I've never seen one leech nearly 4GB by default... but it's possible.

See if there's any VRAM or Video RAM or GPU resources setting in the BIOS.

 

[Tsuteto]

RAM Modules: Did the one at a time thing: Both register fine in both ports. BIOS reports both at 4096 megs, and went into the Windows startup just fine (didn't boot all the way, since from my experience, if it doesn't work, then it doesn't boot anything at all).

While mobile cards leeching RAM is rather common, I've never seen one leech nearly 4GB by default... but it's possible.

See if there's any VRAM or Video RAM or GPU resources setting in the BIOS.

Didn't see anything. The BIOS is titled "insydeH20", specifically revision 3.5, the revision stating F.27

 

[Wombo Combo]

Burn memtest86+ to a cd and boot from it and see if there are any errors and if it shows all of the ram there.

http://www.memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip